Thoughts on being 8

My 8th birthday was pretty great. I remember an unexpected car pulling into our driveway and my Aunt Alison getting out! What a fantastic surprise! Alison was/is the aunt who was/is totally fun and cool (although, as far as aunts go, I'm pretty blessed with all of my six!). To make my birthday even better, my brother was on his way to Boy Scout Camp for a week (not that I don't love my brother, but to an 8 year old, a week without him was a pretty good present!). Well, once Alias left, the girls went to see a movie!! And what did the birthday girl choose?! Harry and the Hendersons. Looking back, what a lame pick! But when you're 8, Bigfoot is pretty cool. I don't really remember much else about my 8th birthday. I just remember it was one of my best birthdays EVER. While Alias was at camp, I convinced my mom to let me put a Nintendo on lay away at K-Mart. With my birthday money in hand, all $40 of it!, I proudly reserved the $100 game system. Being $60 short, I had a grand plan: Once Alias returned from camp, I'd convince him to match my $40 and then our mom could pay the $20 balance. Wouldn't you know, my plan worked brilliantly! So, the Mixes were proud owners of a Nintendo the summer we turned 8 and 13. What could possibly beat a summer of old school Super Mario Brothers? If I made it through the first level of World 1 alive, I was doing good :). [And on a side note: What were they thinking when they thought that Duck Hunt would be a fun game to include with Nintendo? Who liked that game anyway? [except for Jed; thanks for ruining my theory] A better question would be: Who played that game by the rules? No one stood back at the required distance [5 feet?]! To shoot a duck, you had to be right up at the TV.

So, I was thinking about my 8th birthday because I went to Emily Sue's 8th birthday party/sleepover yesterday! Whew, what a ball! Emily Sue is one of my treasured first graders from Riverside! Currently, she holds the title of "World's Funniest 7 Year Old." She'll be promoted to "World's Funniest 8 Year Old" on June 3rd when she officially crosses over. The party got started at Cinema World, the 16 theater megaplex right here in Melbourne! (Yes, shocking!) We saw Shrek 2, complete with Shrek fruit snacks, Shrek juice AND Shrek ears :). I hadn't ever seen Shrek 1, so I was in for such a treat! It was HILARIOUS. Go now to a theater near you if you haven't seen it. Puss in Boots...well, he was GOLD! Back at Party Central we geared up for a romp around the backyard complete with a Slip and Slide. Now, I have no memory of ever slipping and sliding as a kid, so I was pretty excited to give it a go yesterday. It was great fun! GREAT FUN! The running start is crucial in getting a good slide going. By the 5th try or so, I was sliding the whole length :). However, this morning I could barely move. I may mentally feel like an 8 year old sometimes, but I physically felt very old this morning! My knee has some pretty good battle scars/bruises from yesterday's sliding adventure and every muscle in my body aches. But, the watery fun was well worth it. Emily got quite a few nifty presents that us girls were able to enjoy last night: Nickolodean Trivia Game, What Would Lizzie Do (who doesn't LOVE Lizzie McGuire?), and PETER PAN, THE DVD :). I just wish all little kids could experience the magic that Wendy, Michael, and John did. It's pure magic. I love it! Well, hanging out with 7 and 8 year olds is sheer joy! (Except, they tend to get very cranky late at night...and of course they refuse to go to bed because after all, it's a sleepover and that means: STAY UP AS LATE AS YOU CAN EVEN IF YOU'RE TIRED AND CRANKY!) It's too bad that, most of the time, the older one gets, the more magic slips away. I wish that we could somehow bottle that childhood magic and keep it forever! We could let it out in doses when we realized we were acting too adult or grown-up!

My weekend's been pretty great thus far. Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone. Please make sure you tune in for Willie Nelson's special on USA Monday evening at 9 PM. Bob Dylan will be on!!!